Means for protecting lading in cars



Jan, 17, 1956 H. w. FAus MEANS FOR PROTECTING LADING IN CARS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. l5, 1950 R ma Nu ma. WF. t .r E D T D.. H IWI.

ATTORNEY.

Jan 17, 1956 H. w. F'AusA 2,730,968

MEANS Foa PRQTECTING LADING 1N cARs Filed Feb. 15. 195o a sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR /a H erh Eri W Fau 5 '61. 11 m ATTORNEY United States Patent O `2,730,968 MEANS Fon PRoTEc'rrNG Lamme IN `cans Herhanw. Faas, Wnna Plains, N. Y. Application February 1s, 195o, serialNo. `144,348 l 1 claim. `(ci. 10s-369) This invention relates to a method of and means for protecting lading from damage while in course of shipment in transportation vehicles, particularly railway freight cars. a

In shipping more or less fragile articlesin freight cars, it is common practice either to` anchor such articles,` or containers in which they are enclosed, securely Vto the lloor or othery parts of the car structure,` or to pack them tightly in the car, relying solely `on `the .compressive strength of the articles or containers ato protect them against damage by excessive forces of Vacceleration'or deceleration. While such cars are primarily protected by some type of cushioning devices between couplers and car structure,` these are not always suicient to protect lading being transported from damage.

When articles or containers are anchored or braced securely `against any movement whatsoever, all of the `forces of acceleration or deceleration `to whichythe car body is `subjected are transmitted i without diminution to the articles or containers, with no chance for dissipation of the kinetic energy involved except by breakage of articles or containers.

When articles or containers are packed tightly in the car, there is likewise no opportunity for dissipation of energy. As a result of this, the weight of the entire mass of lading, when the car is subjected to impact, is thrown against the end of the car, or against intermediate anchors or braces, with a crushing blow.

The purpose of the present invention is to make it possible to place the lading in the car somewhat loosely, allowing each unit of lading some freedom of movement, and to provide friction means to restrain this movement while at the same time permitting enough movement so that each individual unit of lading, moving against friction, will dissipate energy. By making it possible for each unit of lading to dissipate its own portion of the total energy, much more energy can be dissipated without any destructive concentration of force than if no such provision is made.

Thus, if 1,000 ordinary cartons of bottled liquids, weighing, say, lbs. per carton, are packed tightly in a freight car, the total weight of this mass of lading would be 50,000 lbs. If the movement of the car body is suddenly accelerated or decelerated, each individual carton will tend to slide toward one end of the car. The forces exerted by all of the cartons will be cumulative, there being no force to oppose this tendency, and, therefore, the end rows of cartons will be subjected to the pressure of the entire weight of 50,000 lbs.

If, however, each carton is covered with a frictional coating, and the movement of this carton is resisted by the friction of this coating against the floor and/or the sides of the car, including tops and bottoms or other surfaces of adjacent cartons, a very slight movement will suice to dissipate the kinetic energy in each carton, acting separately, and no destructive forces will be permitted to accumulate.

As an answer to any possible objection that no pro- 2,730,963 Patented Jan. 17, 1956 lce vision is made for restoring units of lading to their original positions after each blow, it may be pointed out that freight cars in normal operation are not usually subjected to successive impactsalways coming from the same direction. Stated in railroad terminology, a `run-in of slack is usually followed by a run-out of slack, and every time this occurs the lading will tend to move alternately in opposite directions and thus be re-positioned each time to take the maximum possible advantage of the friction here provided. This may not give infallible protection against every kind of lading damage under all conceivable conditions, but tests have shown that it will minimize and prevent much of the damage that now occurs to many kinds of fragile lading. a

In the drawings hereto attached:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are, respectively, a sectional plan view, a sectional side elevation and a sectional end elevation of a freight car showing the same filled with lading units of rectangular or oblong rectangular form, which may be boxes or cartons containing goods, and in which the car and units havefriction surfaces in sliding engagement.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are similar views showingl the car lled to a` certain level with lading units of cylindrical or circular type, such as 4sewer or other fragile pipes, the car and pipes having friction surfaces in sliding engagement.

Fig. 7 is a sectional perspective view of a portion of a `wall of a carton provided with my motion-permitting, energy-dissipating coating.

. In thedrawings,`A represents a freight car body, B its bottom wall and B and B2 its side and end |walls, and 1 in Figs. l, 2 and 3, inclusive, and 12- in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, inclusive, respectively represent lading articles or units more or less loosely disposed or packed in the Vcar for `shipment `to allow a certain degree of relative motion, at least forwardly and rearwardly of the car, between the car and units, and between the respective units, the car floor and side wall and opposed surfaces of the units each having a friction coating: applied thereto in accordance with my invention.

In carrying my invention into practice, I provide a coating of such composition-that it will, when applied by spray or otherwise in aliquid state, harden and produce a surface having a coefficient of static friction within the range of 1.00 to 2.00 and coeilcient of kinetic friction within the range of 0.75 to 1.50 when in contact with another surface, such as a normally smooth wooden ear floor, car wall or other surface, preferably but not necessarily covered with a coating of the same character. The utmost in protection will, of course, be afforded if all surfaces that come in sliding contact with each other are covered with this coating, although in4 most cases the coating of only one of two opposing surfaces will give adequate protection.

A coating a, as shown in Figure 7, having these and other properties of importance and advantage may be made in accordance with the following formula:

Reclaimed rubber lbs-- 253.00 Sulfonic acid plasticizer lbs-- 7.60 Limed resin lbs-- 126.00 Hydrogenated rosin lbs 126.00 Lime lbs-- 50.00 Ethyl alcohol gallons 3.75 Hi-test gasoline do 97.00

.In preparing the composition for use the reclaimed rubber, mixed with the lime, is broken down in a mill, the mixture allowed to rest overnight and milled again, sheetthin from the mill; the alcohol and gasoline are put into a dough mixer or churn and the rosins added and these ingredients agitated until the rosins are dissolved; and finally, to the solution thus prepared, the rubber-lime mixture is added and the mass mixed thoroughly in. the mixer until a composition of uniform consistency ,is obtained.v

As a thinner, hi-test gasolinenmay be used when required to provide a coating composition of the right consistency for application to the surfaces-to be:v coated.

In practice, the tioor (and preferably also the upright walls) of the body of the freight car .coated with the composition, as are'alsofthe surfaces of the lading units Vwhich are intended to lie in contact with suchcar surfaces or with each other whendisposed in the car for shipment. The composition may, be applied to such surfaces by brushing,` spraying or inany other suitable manner and allowed to'dry., When dried the composition provides a coating in the; Yforni of a. film of required thickness having the frictional coetiicients Aspecified: andy which is permanently smooth, slightly elastic, strongly adherent to. the surface, and tough enough. towithsttand rough handling and is proof against cracking or disintegration over any intended service period, and also which, while having` the property of tending to slightly cohereto` a similarly coated surface in rubbing contact therewith, will not stick there` to, orinterfere witha slidingfrictional contact between the surfaces'sutiicient to preclude the coated' lading articles or units from sliding for dissipation of energy under a force tending to displace the article or unit from its normal position.

VThe coatingrmay be .applied directly to. one or more surfaces of an article or` unit to be shipped, such as boxes, cartons or other containers 1, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3l and 7., in which one or moreA articles are packed, o1' to fragile sewer or other Pipes 1, as Shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, or to units formed of articles bound or hundied together, so long asthe unit, in whatever form it may be, is provided with a surface coating of the -char acterV described sufficient for contact with another un.- coated surface or similarly coated surface to perform the energy dissipatiug function described, Fig, 7` shows in sectional perspective, a wall portion of a cardboard can Vvton provided with a friction coating a in the form of a film formed by` spraying the coating solution in a suitable liquid state on the wall and allowing the'deposited coating to solidify and harden, in which condition it will adhere to the wall but will be nonadhesive, i. e., free from stickiness or tackiness and ofV suflicient glacial smoothness to have the sliding and frictional qualities specified. I do not limit myself in this regard, nor to the use. of? the particular composition' described, .except when expressly set forth in they claim, as other compositions might be used, as equivalents, within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claim, so long as the stated frictional coefficients of the coating are preserved.

Having thus described Vmy invention, I claim:

In combination, a railroad freight car or other like vehicle of transportation, and units of lading stacked on and in sliding contact with the lioor of the vehicle and each; other. said ,floor and units. having their contacting surfaces coated with a friction substance solidified thereon from a liquid state and o f such composition asr to produce a coefficient of static friction within the range of 1. to ,2.00 anda' coetiicient'of kinetic friction within the range of 0.75 to 1.50,therehyl causing each of said .units to offer substantial resistance to displacement whenl thev vehicle: while in transit is subjected to impacts,V and at the saine time permitting eachy unit to slide with consequent harmless dissipationA of energy through friction when the force tending to displace the unit is great enough *toV produce damage if said unitv were not free toy move.

vReferences Cited in Vthe tile of this patent UNITED lSTATESPATEisi'rs 1,988,513 Ricketts et al Ian. 22, 1935 2,256,024 Hin V- sept. 16,1941 2,341,088A Buis ---7.7. Feb. 8,1944 

